Wanderlei Silva: Chael Sonnen Doesn't Have Balls and Vitor Belfort Is a Coward

Erstwhile PRIDE wrecking machine and current Ultimate Fighting Championship resident Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva has called Chael Sonnen a man with no balls and in the same breath labeled fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort a coward.

[...] I opened the cage for [Chael] and he didn’t say anything. What kind of man is that? I know, actually, because he don’t have balls. He uses testosterone because he don’t have balls. This is his problem.

He don’t have balls, no? His balls don’t work (laughs). I have two big balls over here, you know? And I say for him and I say for everybody, no matter, I am a man. This is a lesson I took from my dad. A man can’t talk about another man because one day we are going to be face to face. In that day, you never know.

For a while now, there has been no love lost between the axe-wielding Brazilian and the overly vocal Oregon native—“Uncle Chael” has taken it upon himself to berate Silva at every given opportunity.

Conversely, Silva (34-11-1-1NC MMA, 4-6 UFC) more times than not has kept it schtum, but at one point he did threaten to kill the former NCAA Division-l standout.

[...] Man, everybody knows [that Belfort is a coward], not just me. Everyone knows that when the fight is going good for him, he’s a lion. But when the fight starts to go bad for him, he’s a lamb. We know that.

He’s a really, really good athlete. But everyone knows that his problem is in his head, not his body.

In 1998 Belfort and Silva—21 and 22 at the time and both fighting in their seventh professional bout—locked horns at UFC Brazil. The bout ended dramatically, with Silva on the receiving end of a brutal assault which lasted all but 44 seconds.

Both combatants, who were coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, were scheduled to throw hands at UFC 147, but due to Belfort's incurring a broken hand, the match was canceled.

Instead, the main event will see Silva mix it up with former 185-pound champion Rich Franklin at a catch weight of 190 pounds.